Taking A New Course - Experimentation in Video Games

Started by El Héroe Oscuro May 12th, 2014 9:40 PM
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El Héroe Oscuro

IG: elheroeoscuro

Male
Chicago
Seen April 10th, 2022
Posted August 21st, 2021
7,237 posts
14.3 Years

Sometimes companies will do the "unthinkable" and mess with the formulas of their games in the hopes of bringing something fresh and new to the table when it comes to their video games and the affiliated franchises. Sometimes this can be good, and sometimes it can cause their fan bases to go up in an uproar. Over the years we have had many, many new directions that video games have gone in, including but not limited to Devil May Cry messing with the signature look of their protagonist Dante, Nintendo creating a cartoonish world in the Legend of Zelda Wind Waker compared to the promised - and later released - Twilight Princess, and the Paper Mario franchise transforming from a turn based game to a platforming RPG with the transition from Thousand Year Door to Super Paper Mario. And it doesn't even have to be huge transitions like the ones stated above - this subject also can imply the simplest additions of a new move, newly updated controls, a new game engine, or even new voice acting.

What are your opinions when companies mess with the formulas of their games? Do you welcome it, or do you hate it when they stray away from something that was working well in your mind? What were some things that did or did not work in your opinion that companies have added to their games? Are there any games that you wish would just stay the same with their game formulas and not try anything new or bold?
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Dustmop

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Seen November 27th, 2022
Posted September 7th, 2016
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Most of the time, it's a nice change, honestly. Most of the time, I have no gripes. Most of the time, the core elements that make that series feel like that series remain intact.
(Like, with Bioshock Infinite dropping the survival horror aspect, my favorite genre, and the setting/characters/plot/practically everything ever.... I still adored the hell out of that game because it still felt like a Bioshock.)


Then Capcom showed us Dead Rising 3, with the new protagonist, Gritty McSerious, and the CoD-esque brown/tan/khaki/brown color scheme that looks like his vision is stained with poo - nothing at all like its predecessors. I've seen the 'whacky' tidbits in DR3, but it still just feels too serious so I still struggle to consider it a DR game.

Also Capcom did that thing where RE5 is a shooter and RE6 is a QTE game, and neither are survival horror games. The ambiance is gone, guys. Though, to be fair, that was gone the moment you decided to add co-op/multiplayer. They're not bad games, I still enjoyed them, they're just not the Resident Evil I know and love.

Oh, and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. I don't even care that it's a different developer, this one can't really be forgiven -- Climax claimed to know what makes a SH game feel like a SH game and failed in every aspect, and that's why I'm unhappy. Don't lie to us, guys. Even the puzzles feel more like "Baby's first puzzle book" and less like the games that required knowledge of Shakespeare to solve the puzzles. To make this crap worse, they jumped on the bandwagon that removed combat from survival horrors to make them 'super scary.' Some cases, this works alright. In this case, it's just frustrating and.. not really fun to play. This decision also confuses me. Homecoming was action-packed, and its sibling has no combat at all? I'll stop whining and just repeat my feelings for Resident Evil - It's not a bad adventure game.. but I didn't go into it expecting to play an adventure game.


There's probably more. Probably. But these are my three biggest gripes/disappointments for the time being.
tl;dr mixed feelings, until it reaches the point of feeling like a different game entirely.

Sonata

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Age 27
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Indiana
Seen 8 Hours Ago
Posted March 25th, 2023
13,619 posts
10.2 Years
Not really a lot to say about this one but, the change that dark souls 2 featured to fighting enemies. Where you can dodge,roll,sidestep, or do whatever else you want and still get hit. Picture explains it perfectly.
Spoiler:
Well, to me it really doesn't matter all that much if they stray from the formula. What matters is if it's good. For example; Megaman was an excellent transition from the archetypical Megaman formula, because it was really damn good. I didn't even miss the normal Megaman gameplay because these games were fun, they had great stories, and they were all around great! Another example it Castlevania: Symphony of the Night which is my new favorite game. It totally dropped the gameplay of the original Castlevania games and really strayed the formula of the previous games (Simon's quest notwithstanding.) and added non-linear gameplay and RPG elements. The game felt more action oriented to be honest, but it was amazing! Heck, it was better then the previous Castlevania games be a mile. And really it's unarguably one of the best games ever made.

On the opposite end we have games such as Ultima IX: Ascension. This game strayed way to far from the Ultima formula, it was a god-awful atrocity. I simply hate it. But I don't need to go into detail about it; many other reviews have done that.